:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/sofia-vergara-tout-0beece4cc213402b97beb09769835a38.jpg?w=1500&resize=1500,1000&ssl=1 "Sofía Vergara Reveals How Her Tattoo for Ex Joe Manganiello Nods to Her New Boyfriend: ‘Recycle’")
Sofía Vergara has a positive outlook on her love life.
On a May 31 episode of The Talk, the Modern Family alum, 51, revealed she’s given new meaning to a tattoo formerly dedicated to her ex-husband Joe Manganiello. The two announced their split in July 2023 after seven years of marriage and finalized their divorce this past February.
The revelation occurred when Vergara was called out by her son Manolo Gonzalez Vergara, also a guest on the show, for having two tattoos as she jokingly condemned him for having 34 of his own.
Vergara explained that she has inked initials on each of her wrists, one honoring her late brother and the other, a “J,” which she originally got for Manganiello. And she was not shy about referencing her ex by name.
“This was Joe Manganiello’s initial, but now he’s gone so…” Vergara said, the confession eliciting laughter, cheers and applause from the audience.
She then admitted that the situation actually worked in her favor.
“How lucky can I be that the guy that I’m going out [with] has the same initial,” she said in reference to her new boyfriend, orthopedic surgeon Justin Saliman. Adding on to the cheeky humor, she said she plans to simply “recycle” the tattoo.
Vergara and Saliman were first linked in October 2023, after which a source told PEOPLE that the Griselda actress was “dating and having fun.”
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While speaking with PEOPLE for her Beautiful Issue cover story, Vergara was coy about her new relationship. But she was much more direct when it came to revealing what’s she looking for in love now.
“Health. Money. Fun. With kids. That’s it,” she said, although she added she doesn’t plan on having any more kids of her own. (The actress has been honest about the decision and how that became an issue in her relationship with Manganiello).
“There’s things in life that might sound like good ideas, but they’re not,” she explained. “I was a mother already. I know what it means to be a good mother or to try to be the best mother that you can, and that takes a lot of sacrifices, takes a lot of energy.”